Of CREATION IN GENERAL
John Gill
Having considered the internal
and eternal acts of the divine mind, and the transactions of the divine Persons
with each other in eternity; I proceed to consider the external acts and works
of God, or his goings forth out of himself, in the exercise of
his power and goodness in the works of creation, providence, redemption, and
grace; which works of God, without himself, in time, are agreeable to the acts
of his mind within himself, in eternity. These are no other than his eternal
purposes and decrees carried into execution; for "he worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will", #Eph 1:11. I shall begin with the work
of creation, which is what God himself began with; and shall
consider the following things concerning it.
1. What creation is. Sometimes
it only signifies the natural production of creatures into being, in the
ordinary way, by generation and propagation; so the birth of persons, or the
bringing them into being, in the common course of nature, is called the creation of them, and God is represented as their Creator,
#Eze 21:30 28:14 #Ec 12:1. Sometimes it designs acts of providence, in bringing
about affairs of moment and importance in the world; as when it is said,
"I form the light, and create darkness"; which is explained by what
follows, "I make peace and create evil": it is to be understood of
prosperous and adverse dispensations of providence; which are the
Lord's doings, and are according to his sovereign will and pleasure, #Isa 55:7.
So the renewing of the face of the earth, and the reproduction of herbs,
plants, &c. in the returning spring of the year, is called a creation of
them, #Ps 104:30. And the renewing of the world, in the end of time, though the
substance of it will remain, is called a creating new heavens and a new earth,
#Isa 65:17. Sometimes it intends the doing something
unusual, extraordinary, and wonderful; such as the earth's opening its mouth,
and swallowing up the rebellious Israelites in the wilderness, #Nu 16:30 and
the wonderful protection of the church of God, #Isa 4:5 and particularly the
amazing incarnation of the Son of God, #Jer 31:22. But, to observe no more,
creation may be distinguished into mediate and immediate; mediate creation is
the production of beings, by the power of God, out of
pre-existent matter, which of itself was not disposed to produce them; so God
is said to create great whales and other fishes, which, at his command, the
waters brought forth abundantly; and he created man, male and female; and yet
man, as to his body, was made of the dust of the earth, and the woman out of
the rib of man, #Ge 1:21,27 and, indeed, all that was created
on the five last days of the creation, was made by the all-commanding power and
will of God, out of matter which before existed, though indisposed of itself
for such a production. Immediate creation, and which is properly creation, is
the production of things out of thing, or the bringing of a nonentity into
being, as was the work of the first day, the creating the heavens and the
earth, the unformed chaos, and the light commanded to arise
upon it, #Ge 1:1-3. And these are the original of all things; so that all
things ultimately are made out of nothing, which is the voice of divine
revelation, and our faith is directed to assent unto and receive; "Through
faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God; so that
things which are seen were not made of things which do appear", #Heb 11:3 but of things unseen, and indeed, which had no existence; for
God, by his all-commanding word and power, "called things that are not as
though they were", #Ro 4:17 that is, called and commanded by his mighty
power, nonentities into being; and this is what is meant by a creation of
things out of nothing; and so the word arb, used for the making of the heavens
and the earth in the beginning, signifies, as Aben Ezra and
Kimchi observe; and indeed it cannot be conceived of otherwise, but that the
world was made out of nothing; for,
If nothing existed from
eternity but God, or if nothing existed before the world was but himself, by
which his eternity is described, and which he claims as peculiar to himself, #Ps 90:2 #Isa 43:10 and if the world was made by him,
as it most certainly was, it must be made by him out of nothing, since besides
himself, there was nothing existing, out of which it could be made; to say it
was made out of pre-existent matter, is to beg the question; besides, that
pre-existent matter must be made by him; for he has "created all
things", #Re 4:11 and if all things, nothing can be excepted;
and certainly not matter; for be that visible or invisible, one of them it must
be; and both the one and the other are created of God, #Col 1:16 and this
matter must be made out of nothing, so that it comes to the same thing, that
all things are originally made out of nothing. Besides, there are some
creatures, and those the most noble, as angels and the souls of men, which are
immaterial, and therefore are not made out of matter, and
consequently are made out of nothing; and are brought from nonentity into
being, by the almighty power of God; and if these, why not others? and if these
and others, why not all things, even matter itself? As for that old and trite
maxim, so much in the mouths of the ancient philosophers {1}, as well as modern
reasoners, "Ex nihilo nihil fit", out of nothing, nothing is made; this only holds true of finite nature, finite beings,
second causes; by them out of nothing, nothing can be made; but not of infinite
nature, of the infinite Being, the first Cause, who is a God of infinite
perfection and power; and what is it that omnipotence cannot do? Plato {2} owns that God is the Cause, or
Author of those things, which before were not in being, or created all things
out of nothing.
2. The object of creation, all
things, nothing excepted in the whole compass of finite nature; "Thou hast
created all things, and for thy pleasure", or by thy will, "they are
and were created", #Re 4:11 these all things are comprehended by Moses
under the name of the heavens and the earth, #Ge 1:1 and more fully expressed
by the apostles in their address to God, who is described by
them as having "made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them
is", #Ac 4:24 and still more explicitly by the angel, who swore by the
living God "who created heaven, and the things that therein are; and the
earth, and the things that therein are; and the sea, and the things which are
therein", #Re 10:6.
2a. First, The heavens and all
in them; these are often represented as made and created by God, and are said
to be the work of his fingers and of his hands; being curiously as well as
powerfully wrought by him, #Ps 8:3 19:1 102:25. They are spoken of in the
plural number, for there are more heavens than one; there are certainly
three, for we read of a "third" heaven, which is explained of
"paradise", #2Co 12:2,4 this is,
2a1. The
heaven of heavens, the superior heaven, and the most
excellent,
the habitation of God, where his glorious
presence
is, where he has his palace, keeps his court, and
is indeed his
throne, #Isa 65:15 66:1 and where angels
dwell, and
therefore they are called the angels of heaven,
are in the
presence of God there, and behold the face of our
heavenly
Father, #Mt 24:36 18:10 and where glorified saints
will
be in soul and body to all eternity. Now this is a
place made
and created by God, and as such cannot contain
him, though
his glory is greatly manifested in it, #1Ki 8:27
it is where
the angels are, who must have an "ubi" somewhere
to be in,
being finite creatures, and who are said to ascend
unto,
and descend from thence, #Joh 1:51 and here bodies
are, which
require space and place, as those of "Enoch" and
"Elijah",
translated thither, and the human nature of
Christ, which
has ascended to it, and will be retained in
it, until his
second coming; and where the bodies of those
are,
who rose at the time of his resurrection; as well as
all the
bodies of the saints will be to all eternity: and
this is
expressly called a "place" by Christ, and is
distinguished
as the place of the blessed, from that of the
damned, #Joh
14:2,3 Lu 16:26 and is sometimes described by
an
house, a city, a country, kingdom, and an inheritance;
and
particularly it is called a "city whose builder and
maker is
God", #Heb 11:10 for he that built all things built
this; it is a
part of his creation; and all things in it are
created by him;
he the uncreated Being excepted; even God,
Father,
Son, and Spirit; but the angels of it are his
creatures;
"He makes his angels spirits", #Ps 104:4 of their
creation, and
the time of it, of their nature, number,
excellency,
and usefulness, I shall treat in a particular
chapter
hereafter.
2a2. There is
another heaven, lower than the former, and may be
called the
"second", and bears the name of the starry
heaven,
because the sun, and moon, and stars are placed in
it;
"Look towards heaven, and tell the stars", #Ge 15:5
#Isa
40:26 Job 22:12 this reaches from the region of the
moon to the
place of the fixed stars, and to that immense space
which our
eyes cannot reach. Now this, and all that in it
are, were
created by God; he made the sun to rule by day,
and the moon
to rule by night; and he made the stars also,
2a3. There is
another heaven lower than both the former, and may
be called the
aerial heaven; for the air and heaven are
sometime
synonymous; hence the fowls are sometimes called
the
fowls of the heaven, and sometimes the fowls of the air,
they being
the same, #Ge 7:3,23. Now this wide expanse, or
firmament of
heaven, is the handy-work of God, and all
things in it;
not only the fowls that fly in it, but all the
meteors
gendered there; as rain, hail, snow, thunder, and
lightning.
"Hath the rain a father?" None but God; and the
same may be
said of all the rest: #Job 37:6 38:28,29.
2b. Secondly, The earth, and all
that is therein. This was first made without form; not without any, but without
the beautiful one in which it quickly appeared; and when
the waters were drained off from it, and became dry land, it was called earth,
#Ge 1:2,9,10 and as this was made by God, so all things in it; the grass, the
herbs, the plants, and trees upon it; the metals and minerals in the bowels of
it, gold, silver, brass, and iron; all the beasts of the field, and "the
cattle on a thousand hills"; as well as the principal inhabitants of it,
men, called eminently the inhabitants of the earth, #Da
4:35. Of the creation of man I shall treat in a distinct chapter by itself.
2c. Thirdly, The sea, and all
that is in that; when God cleaved an hollow in the earth, the waters he drained
off of it, he gathered into it; and gave those waters, thus gathered into one
place, the name of seas, #Ge 1:10 and which were of his creating; "The sea is his, and he made it", #Ps 95:5 and all
in it: likewise the marine plants and trees, with other things therein; and all
the fishes which swim in it, great and small, innumerable, #Ps 104:25,26. Now
these, the heavens, earth, and sea, and all that are in them, make up the world
which God has created, and which is but one; for though we read of worlds, God
has made by his Son, and which are framed by the word of
God, #Heb 1:2 11:3 yet these may have respect only to the distinction of the
upper, middle, and lower world; for the numerous worlds some Jewish writers
speak of, they are mere fables; and that the planets are so many worlds as our
earth is, and that the fixed stars are so many suns to worlds unknown by us,
are the conjectures of modern astronomers, and in which there is no certainty;
revelation gives no account of them, and we have no concern
with them; and were there as many as are imagined, and can be conceived of,
this we may be assured of, they were all created by God.
3. The next thing to be
inquired into is, When creation began? or God began to create
and bring things into being? and this was not in eternity, but in time; an
"eternal creature", or a creature in eternity, is the greatest
absurdity imaginable; to assert it is an insult on the common sense and
understanding of men: it was in the beginning of time, or when time first began,
as it did, when a creature was first made, that God made all things; "In
the beginning God created the heavens and the earth",
#Ge 1:1. "And thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the
earth", &c. #Heb 1:10 these were the first that were created, and with
these time begun; and every creature has a beginning, creation supposes it; for
that is no other than bringing a nonentity into being; and therefore since what
is created, once was not, it must have a beginning. Some philosophers, and
Aristotle at the head of them, have asserted the eternity
of the world; but without any reason; and is abundantly refuted by scripture;
and therefore cannot be received by those that believe its divine authority;
for that not only assures us that it was created in the beginning, and so had a
beginning; but gives us an account of what was before it; as, that before the
mountains were brought forth, or ever the earth and world were formed, God was, even from everlasting; so that an eternity anteceded
the making of the world. Christ also, the Wisdom and Word of God, was before
the earth was; even when there were no depths, nor fountains abounding with
water; before the mountains and hills were settled, and the highest part of the
world made, #Ps 90:2 Pr 8:24-30. A choice of men was made in Christ unto
eternal life, before the foundation of the world; and grace
was given to them in him, as their head and representative, before the world
began, #Eph 1:4 2Ti 1:9. A full proof that the world had a beginning; and that
there were things done in eternity, before the world was in being. To say the
world, or matter, was coeternal with God, is to make that itself God; for
eternity is a perfection peculiar to God; and where one perfection is, all are: what is eternal, is infinite and unbounded; and if the
world is eternal, it is infinite; and then there must be two infinites, which
is an absurdity not to be received. Besides, if eternal, it must necessarily
exist; or exist by necessity of nature; and so be self-existent, and consequently
God; yea, must be independent of him, and to which he can have no claim, nor
any power and authority over it; whereas, according to
divine revelation, and even the reason of things, all things were according to
the pleasure of God, or by his will, #Re 4:11 and therefore must be later than
his will, being the effect of it.
And as the world had a
beginning, and all things in it, it does not appear to be of any great antiquity; it has not, as yet, run out six thousand
years, according to the scriptural account, and which may be depended on.
Indeed, according to the Greek version, the age of the world is carried
fourteen or fifteen hundred years higher; but the Hebrew text is the surest
rule to go by: as for the accounts of the Egyptians, Chaldeans, and Chinese,
which make the original of their kingdoms and states many
thousands of years higher still; these are only vain boasts, and fabulous
relations, which have no foundation in true history. The origin of nations,
according to the Scriptures, which appears to be the truest; and the invention
of arts and sciences, and of various things necessary to human life; as of
agriculture, the bringing up of cattle; making of various utensils of brass and
iron, for the various businesses of life; and the finding
out of letters; with many other things, which appear to be within the time the
Scripture assigns for the creation; plainly show it could not be earlier, since
without these men could not be long: nor does any genuine history give an
account of anything more early, nor so early as the Scriptures do; and
therefore we may safely conclude, that the origin of the world, as given by that, is true; for if the world had been eternal, or
of so early a date as some kingdoms pretend unto, something or other done in
those ancient times, would have been, some way or another, transmitted to
posterity.
Under this head might be
considered, the time and season of the year when the world
was created. Some think it was in the vernal equinox, or spring of the year,
when plants and trees are blooming, look beautiful, and all nature is gay and
pleasant; and at which season in every year, there is a renewing of the face of
the earth: and some have observed, in favour of this notion, that the
redemption of man was wrought out at this time of the year, which is a
restoration of the world; but these seem not sufficient to
ascertain it. Others think the world was created in the autumnal equinox, when
the fruits of the earth are ripe, and in their full perfection; which seems
more probable: and certain it is, that some nations of old, as the Egyptians
and others, began their year at this time; as did the Israelites, before their
coming out of Egypt, when they were ordered by the Lord to make a change; and from thenceforward to reckon the month Abib, or Nisan, in
which they came out of Egypt, the first month of the year, and which answers to
part of March and part of April; and which they always observed for the
regulation of their ecclesiastic affairs, though with respect to civil matters,
they still continued to reckon the year from Tisri, which answers to some part
of our September; and it may be observed, that the feast of
ingathering the fruits of the earth, is said to be "in the end of the
year"; and when a new year begun; see #Ex 12:2 #Ex 23:16. But this is a
matter of no great moment, which way soever it is determined; what follows is
of more importance.
4. The author of creation is
God, and he only; hence he is called the creator of the ends
of the earth, of the whole world, to the utmost bounds of it; and claims the
making the heavens and the earth to himself alone; and a curse is pronounced on
those deities that made not the heavens and the earth; and it is declared, that
they should perish from the earth, and from under those heavens, #Isa 40:28
42:5 #Isa 44:24 Jer 10:11 and more divine persons than one were concerned in
this work, for we read of creators and makers in the plural
number, #Ec 12:1 Job 35:10 Ps 149:2 Isa 54:5 and a plural word for God is made
use of at the first mention of the creation, #Ge 1:1 and these divine persons
are Father, Son, and Spirit, the one only living and true God; of the Father of
Christ there can be no doubt; our Lord addresses his Father as Lord of heaven
and earth, the possessor and governor of both, being the
creator of them, #Mt 11:25 and the apostles expressly ascribe to him the making
of the heavens, earth, and sea, and all that is in them, #Ac 4:24,27 and he is
said to make the worlds by his Son, and to create all things by Jesus Christ,
#Heb 1:2 Eph 3:9 not by him as an instrument, but as a co-efficient cause; for
the particle "by" does not always signify an instrument; see #Ro
11:36 besides, it is expressly said of the Word and Son of
God, who is God, that "all things were made by him, and without him was
not anything made that is made"; and of him, the image of the invisible
God and firstborn, or first parent and producer of every creature, that
"all things were created by him, and for him"; by him as the first
cause, and for him as the chief end, #Joh 1:1-3 Col 1:15,16 and the Son is
addressed by his divine Father after this manner, "And
thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the
heavens are the works of thine hands"; and by him, the eternal Logos, the
essential Word of God {3}, the worlds are said to be framed, #Heb 1:8-10 11:3
nor is the Holy Spirit to be excluded from having a concern in the works of
creation; since he not only moved upon the face of the waters
at the first creation, and brought the unformed earth into a beautiful order,
and by him the heavens were garnished, and bespangled with luminaries, #Ge 1:2
Job 26:13 but the formation of men is ascribed to him, "The Spirit of God
hath made me, saith Elihu, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me
life", #Job 33:4 and since the Spirit of God is the author of
regeneration, which is a re-creation, or a new creation,
and which requires the same almighty power to effect it, as the old creation
did; and since he is the giver of all grace, and of every spiritual gift, which
he dispenses to everyone severally as he will; no doubt ought to be made of it,
that he had an hand in the creation of all things.
And this
work of creation was wrought by God, Father, Son, and Spirit, without any other
cause, principal or instrumental; not principal, for then that would be equal
with God; nor instrumental, since creation is a production of things out of
nothing, there was nothing for an instrument to operate upon; and since it was
an instantaneous action, done in a moment, there could be no opportunity of
using and employing one: besides, this instrument must be
either God or a creature; not God, because it is supposed to be distinct from
him, and to be made use of by him; and if a creature, it must be used in the
creation of itself, which is an absurdity; for then it must be and not be at
the same moment: nor could nor can creative power be communicated to a
creature; this would be to make finite infinite, and so another God, which cannot be; this would be to make God to act
contrary to his nature, to deny himself, which he cannot do; and to destroy all
distinction between the creature and the Creator, and to introduce and justify
the idolatry of the heathens, who worshipped the creature besides the Creator.
5. The
manner and order of the creation; it was done at once by the mighty power of
God, by his all-commanding will and word, "He spake and it was done, he
commanded and it stood fast", #Ps 33:9 he gave the word, and every
creature started into being in a moment; for though God took six days for the
creation of the world and all things in it, to make his works the more
observable, and that they might be distinctly considered,
and gradually become the object of contemplation and wonder; yet the work of
every day, and every particular work in each day, were done in a moment,
without any motion and change, without any labour and fatigue, only by a word
speaking, by an almighty "fiat", let it be done, and it immediately
was done; thus on the "first" day, by the word of the Lord the
heavens and the earth were at once made, and light was
called into being, "Let there be light, and there was light". On the
"second" day the firmament of heaven, the great expanse, was formed
in the same manner, to divide the waters above it, gathered up and formed into
clouds, from those that were under it upon the surface of the earth; and on the
"third" day, in one moment of that day, God ordered the waters under
the heavens to be gathered into one place called the sea,
and leave the land dry, which he called earth; and in another moment of that
day he commanded the earth to bring forth grass, herbs, and trees, and they
sprung up at once. On the "fourth" day he made the sun, moon, and
stars in an instant, and directed their several uses; on the "fifth"
day, in one moment of it, he bid the water bring forth fowls, and in another moment of it created great whales, and the numerous
fishes of the sea; and on the "sixth" day, in one moment of it, he
ordered the earth to bring forth living creatures, beasts, and cattle, wild and
tame; and in another moment on the same day he created man after his image, his
soul immaterial out of nothing, his body out of the dust of the earth; and in
another moment on the same day created the woman out of the
rib of man, immediately infusing into her a rational soul as into man, since
both were made after the image of God; and thus God proceeded in the creation
of things in the visible world, from things less perfect to those more perfect,
and from inanimate creatures to animate ones, and from irrational creatures to
rational ones; and in his great wisdom provided food and habitations for living
creatures before he made them; and when he had finished his
works he overlooked them and pronounced them all very good. Nor is it any
objection to the goodness of them that some creatures are noxious and harmful
to men, since they become so through the sin of men; and others are of a
poisonous nature, since even these may be good and useful to others; and God
has given man capacity and sagacity to distinguish between
what may be harmful to him, and what is salutary. There remains nothing more to
be observed but,
6. The end of the creation of
all things: and,
6a. The
ultimate end is the glory of God: "The Lord hath made", in every sense,
"all things for himself"; that is, for his glory, #Pr 16:4 and his
glory is displayed in all, the heavens declare it, and the earth is full of it,
even the glory of all the divine perfections; "for the invisible things of
him", his nature, perfections, and attributes, "from the creation of
the world", or by the works of creation, "are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made", which
could never be made without them, "even his eternal power and
Godhead"; all the perfections of deity, particularly his infinite and
almighty power, #Ro 1:20 for as the prophet Jeremiah says, "Lord God, thou
hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out
arm", #Jer 32:17 moreover the goodness of God is remarkably displayed in the creation; God appears therein to be
communicative of his goodness, since he has not only made all things very good,
but all conducive to the good of his creatures; the whole earth is full of his
goodness; and men are called upon by the Psalmist to give thanks to God because
he is good; and the principal things instanced in, in which his goodness
appears, are the works of creation; see #Ps 33:5 136:1,4
&c. to all which may be added, the rich display that is made of the wisdom
of God in the several parts of the creation; "The Lord by wisdom hath
founded the earth, by understanding hath he established the heavens, by his
knowledge the depths are broken up", #Pr 3:19,20. The wisdom of God
appears in every creature he has made, in their form, shape, texture, and nature,
suitable for what they are designed, and in their
subserviency to each other, so that the Psalmist well might say, "0 Lord,
how manifold are thy works, in wisdom hast thou made them all!" #Ps
104:24.
6b. The subordinate end is the
good of man, of men in general; the earth is made to be
inhabited by man, and all the creatures on it are put in subjection to him, and
are for his use and service, as well as all that grows upon it, or are in the
bowels of it, #Isa 45:12,18 Ps 8:6-8 the celesial bodies, the sun, moon, and
stars, and all the influences of the heavens, are for his benefit, #Ge 1:14-18
Ho 2:21,22 particularly the world, and all things were made for the sake of
God's chosen people, who in the several ages of time were
to be brought forth and appear on it; and in which, as on a stage and theatre,
the great work of their redemption and salvation was to be performed in the
most public manner; and they have the best title to the world, even the present
world, Christ being theirs, whose is the world and the fulness of it, #1Co
3:22,23 Ps 24:1 as well as the new heavens and the new earth, as they will be
when refined and purified, the second Adam's world, are for
their sakes; and in which none but righteous persons will dwell, even the whole
church of God, when prepared as a bride for her husband, and where the
tabernacle of God will be with men. #2Pe 3:13 Re 21:1-4 yea the angels of
heaven are created for their use and service; they are all "ministerlug
spirits, sent forth to minister for them who are heirs of
salvation", #Heb 1:14 wherefore upon the whole it becomes us to glorify
and worship God our creator, to fear him and stand in awe of him, and to put
our trust and confidence in him, both for things temporal and spiritual.
{1} So Democritus. Diogenes,
Epicurus, vid. Laert. l. 9, 10. "in Vita eorum.----nullam
rem e nihilo gigni; nil posse creari, de nihilo----" Lucretius, l. 1. so Persii Satyr. 3. v. 84.
"erit aliquid quod aut ex nihilo oriatur, aut in nihilum subito occidat,
quis hoc physicus dixit unquam" Cicero de Divinatione, l. 3. c. 37.
{2} Sophista, p. 185.
{3} Pretty remarkable is the
account given by Laertius in vita Zeno, of the notion of the
Stoic, concerning creation, "with them, "he says, "there are two
principles of all things, an agent and a patient; the patient is substance,
matter without quality; the agent on it is ton en auth logon ton yeon, God the
Word; for he being eternal, effects or creates everything by or through the
whole of it. "